Yun Xiao actually died

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"Chen Chang'an! Prepare to die!"

Leng Tu let out a maniacal laugh and shot into the sky, charging straight toward Chen Chang'an.

Seeing Leng Tu rushing toward him, Chen Chang'an responded with a cold smirk.

In an instant, Chen Chang'an's figure blurred as he transformed into a streak of sword light, hurtling toward Leng Tu.

Boom!

A deafening explosion echoed as Chen Chang'an pierced straight through Leng Tu's body like a blade of light.

At the same time, Chen Chang'an flicked his finger like a sword, unleashing a single slash. In that moment, the thirty thousand-strong Blood Slaughter Army, who had been roaring in unison, were instantly decimated—heads and bodies separated.

"No… impossible!"

"Why? How could this happen?"

"You…"

Leng Tu's mind was flooded with confusion and disbelief. His attack had clearly struck Chen Chang'an, so why was the man completely unaffected, charging forward without hesitation?

Was his strength truly so insignificant that it couldn’t even make Chen Chang'an pause for a single moment?

Seeing the bewilderment in Leng Tu's eyes, Chen Chang'an offered no explanation.

Since gaining the ability to cultivate, Chen Chang'an's greatest strength wasn’t his overwhelming combat prowess—it was his ability to attack without restraint.

No matter how strong his enemies were, he had no fear of retaliation. Because none of them could kill him.

Chen Chang'an could abandon all defense, letting their attacks land on him without resistance. All he had to do was strike back at the exact moment they thought they had won, delivering a fatal blow.

In Leng Tu’s imagination, even if his attack failed to kill Chen Chang'an, the man would at least have to defend himself. That way, Chen Chang'an’s counterattack would be weakened.

But he never expected that Chen Chang'an wouldn’t even bother resisting—he would simply tank the hit and retaliate.

Not only had Leng Tu failed to anticipate this, even Fan Yi was left utterly dumbfounded. Only now did he truly understand just how monstrous Chen Chang'an was.

"Tsk tsk tsk, that body is ridiculously tough!"

"The Blood Slaughter Emperor’s attack—I wouldn’t have been able to block it. Yet Chen Chang'an didn’t even defend and came out completely unscathed."

"What kind of physique is that? How is he so damn durable?" Lie Zhankuang was both shocked and envious.

"That sword strike just now… it was terrifying!"

"Not a single survivor among the Blood Slaughter Palace’s thirty thousand troops?"

"How did he do it? That’s thirty thousand people!"

"The range of that attack was absurd!"

Kuang Zhongtang was even more stunned by that single sword slash. It defied all logic.

He was certain that even if he broke through to the Emperor realm, he wouldn’t be able to replicate Chen Chang'an’s feat against thirty thousand enemies. At best, he’d need time to whittle them down.

But Chen Chang'an? One slash. Just one!

No flashy techniques, just a simple swing—yet it annihilated all thirty thousand in an instant.

And these weren’t ordinary soldiers. The weakest among them were at the Void Piercing realm!

This… was beyond absurd.

"What’s the big deal?"

"My young master once slaughtered three hundred thousand enemies with a single sword strike in the Fengtian Imperial Dynasty!" Gu Xian'er declared proudly.

"How many?!"

"Three hundred thousand?!"

"That’s impossible!"

"There’s no way a single sword strike could wipe out that many people at once!"

"Besides—"

Kuang Zhongtang initially doubted her, but after a moment of thought, he shut his mouth.

Why? Because this was Chen Chang'an.

"What’s he doing?"

"The enemies are all dead, so why hasn’t he come back yet?"

Yao Niming had been watching Chen Chang'an closely. Though the battle was over, Chen Chang'an remained motionless, as if observing something.

After a long pause, Chen Chang'an finally flickered back to the city walls.

"Find anything?" Da Huang asked curiously when Chen Chang'an returned.

"Their souls… vanished."

Vanished?

"Holy shit!"

"So it really was that ugly bastard Long Wuqi behind this!"

"I told you—Yun Xiao was probably Long Wuqi!"

"That bastard’s only at the Divine Ability realm now, right? If I find him, I’m gonna teach him a lesson he’ll never forget!"

Lie Zhankuang gnashed his teeth in fury. Long Wuqi had inflicted irreversible damage on his life and psyche.

Hiding under the Heavenly Pool for over six thousand years? Anyone else would’ve gone insane!

"Shut up for a second."

"Anything else? Did you track where the souls went?" Da Huang pressed.

"I know the direction, but I can’t figure out what use so many souls would serve."

"Long Wuqi already suffered the backlash from devouring souls—he wouldn’t repeat the same mistake."

"Is he feeding these souls to someone else?"

"But the Blood Slaughter Emperor’s soul isn’t so easily consumed."

"Or… does he have another purpose?"

For now, Chen Chang'an couldn’t discern the enemy’s goal. But one thing was certain—the Dragon Emperor Palace was involved.

Even if Yun Xiao wasn’t Long Wuqi, he was definitely connected to them.

"Why didn’t you chase after them?"

"With your strength, you could’ve followed the trail and uncovered the mastermind."

"Unless… you didn’t want to?" Da Huang studied Chen Chang'an curiously.

"Because I found something interesting."

"Yun Xiao… is dead."

Dead?

The group froze. If Yun Xiao was Long Wuqi, how could he have died so suddenly?

"Don’t believe me?"

Seeing their disbelief, Chen Chang'an didn’t waste words. In a flash, he reappeared, tossing Yun Xiao’s corpse in front of them.

"It really is Yun Xiao."

"He… actually died?"

"How did you find him?"

"While tracking the vanishing souls, I stumbled upon his body about a hundred miles from here."

Yun Xiao’s death threw everything into chaos.

Their earlier suspicions now seemed uncertain again.

Was Yun Xiao never Long Wuqi to begin with? Just a pawn, a puppet?

"Things just got more interesting."

"Maybe even more than we imagined."

Initially, Chen Chang'an hadn’t cared about the Dragon Emperor Palace or Long Wuqi. No matter what they did, they posed no threat to him.

But as events unfolded, he realized there was more to this than met the eye.

It piqued his interest—but he wouldn’t actively seek the truth.

Because he was certain… they would come to him.

"Ah, who would’ve thought the Blood Slaughter Palace would end up like this?"

Fan Yi had spent many years in the Blood Slaughter Palace and still held some sentiment for it.

Seeing the sea of corpses below, a pang of sorrow struck him.

"What? Missing them?"

"Should I be kind and send you to join them?" Chen Chang'an asked with a smile.

“Well… that really isn’t necessary.”

Fan Yi gave an awkward laugh. What a joke—after struggling so hard to survive, how could he just throw his life away so easily?

“Then quit being so damn dramatic.”

Hearing Chen Chang’an’s words, Fan Yi froze. Had he… been dramatic?

Maybe… just a little.

“Let’s go, we can head back now.”

“Da Huang, did you forget something?”

At Chen Chang’an’s question, Da Huang also froze. Forget something? The brothel? No, he couldn’t be talking about that. So what else could he have forgotten?

“The cheering?”

“The hype?”

“Can your dog brain stop obsessing over brothels for once?”

Holy shit!

He actually knew Da Huang had been thinking about the brothel just now? Truly the worm in this dog’s gut—he knew him too well.

“Hah!”

Da Huang opened his mouth wide, took a deep breath, and then bellowed at the top of his lungs:

“Chen Chang’an is mighty!”

“Chen Chang’an is peerless!”

“Chen Chang’an is invincible!”

“Chen Chang’an is… the fucking best!”